Some words of wisdom from Naomi Wolf

Despite controversy Wolf hits the nail on the head with some of this. Her advice to young women (written in 1992)?

1. Redefine what being a woman means.
2. Break the taboo around being self-sufficient including in terms of asking for just compensation for your work. And then give money to women’s causes.
3. Never cook for or sleep with anyone who routinely puts you down.
4. Become a goddess of disobedience - don’t be afriad of confrontation, don’t back down in conflict because it’s “unfeminine”.

Posted by Louise Livesey on 16 October 2008, at 10:44 AM | Comments (4)

Your Comments

maggie said:

Wise words indeed.

I've always been a 'godess of disobedience'.

Posted on 15 October 2008 at 12:34 PM

Shea said:

Good list. I'd add:

1) Understand that success is personal to you, create your own definition of it and realise it doesn't always come in a suit (thanks Ruth).
2) Discover what makes you happy and interests you and pursue those interests. Put them before a relationship, however serious you think it is.
3) Make your own money, however little of it and always keep it separate. Have your own bank account and avoid at all costs having a joint one. Always, always have some "kiss ass" money. That is, you have enough money that should a job or relationship become horrible you have the money to walk away and tell your boss or partner to do just that.
4) Have the courage to walk away from a situation that makes you unhappy and a partner who doesn't deserve you.

Posted on 15 October 2008 at 4:34 PM

Ruth said:

Shea,
my late mother-in-law, (born in 1914 and an Oxford graduate) used to maintain one should have a separate account for oneself AND a joint one (useful for writing large household checks in the absence of the other party)! OTOH, her son has always been of the "what's mine is ours" brigade, whether I was able to earn or not, so I know I'm lucky.

Posted on 15 October 2008 at 7:07 PM

Stephanie said:

Thankyou for posting this!

Posted on 16 October 2008 at 10:28 PM

Have your say

In order to keep this blog as a feminist and friendly space, comments will be subject to some rules. We do not seek to censor debate: the beauty of the internet is that anyone can set up their own blog or website to express their views.

  1. This blog is a safe and friendly space for feminists and feminist allies. Debate and critique are welcome where it is constructive and deepens analysis or understanding. Anti-feminist comments will not be approved. We get to decide what's anti-feminist.
  2. All comments must be approved by one of the bloggers. For this reason, there may be a delay before your comment appears.
  3. No sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, ablist comments, comments which make personal attacks on any blogger or commenter, or comments that are otherwise deemed offensive by us will be posted.
  4. Trolls will be banned from commenting. We get to decide who is a troll.
  5. No anonymous comments - please feel free to use your real name or make one up, though.
  6. Be nice.

Please note that your email address will not be displayed on this website. All comments are checked, prior to being published on this site.

< back | top ^ | next >

Latest Posts
Abortion Rights comedy fundraiser
News and Views
Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Appropriate games for girls
Sheffield anti-violence demo this Saturday
Reclaim The Night London
Muslimah Media Watch
Time wasting tool of the day: GenderAnalyzer
68th Carnival of Feminists, and some thoughts on waves
New Cardiff Feminist Group
More posts
Latest Comments
Rosalind on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Rosa on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Kez on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Lindsey on News and Views
Lindsey on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Sabre on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Kath on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Mandy on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
Rosalind on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
polly stryrene on Apparently men have to be Cervix Savvy
More feminist bloggers
There are plenty of fantastic UK feminist bloggers around. For a fantastic introduction to feminist blogging, go to the Carnival of Feminists website, which showcases the finest feminist posts from around the blogsphere, including many from UK blogs.
Small Print
All blog posts are the views of the individual post author, and not those of The F-Word.

Inside this section

Blog Home
Archives by Month
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
More Archives
Archives by Author
Abby O'Reilly
Anne Onne
Barbara Felix
Carrie Dunn
Catherine Redfern
Guest Blogger
Helen G
Holly Combe
Jess McCabe
Kate Smurthwaite
Laura Woodhouse
Louise Livesey
Lynne Miles
Milly Shaw
Samara Ginsberg
Sokari Ekine
Yvonne Howard
zohra moosa
News prior to April 2005
XML feed Feeds
Latest Blog Posts
Latest Comments

Contact Us

This webpage lives at: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2008/10/some_words_of_w